The Traveler

Who I Am

(Firestar's POV.... again)

I brushed against Ivypool as we walked. "See. Nothing to worry about. Iceshadow has done nothing but help. She's even helped us catch prey."

It was the day after Ivypool had approached me. It was raining slightly and Iceshadow had been excited to get out of the hollow. She still acted strained when I approached her to ask her to come, but she happily accepted, and noticeably loosened up. Now we were by the abandoned twoleg den with Ivypool and Spiderleg, scraping dirt over prey.

Ivypool grunted. "I know what I saw," she mumbled dropping a thrushs.

"Hey," Spiderleg said, padding up beside us. "That rogue's a better hunter than I thought. She could probably feed the clan herself if we let her."

Spiderleg's words didn't quite have an optimistic effect on me. Instead, they just reminded me of what Ivypool said. 'She's ferocious.' But it couldn't be. She was just a good hunter, and  a little over excited after being stuck in the camp for so long. Of course she was just letting off some steam with a few mice. But Ivypool's words kept replaying in my head.

"Where is she anyway," I asked glancing around. The white rogue was no where to be seen.

"I'm up here." Her voice drifted down from above. She was standing on top of the twoleg den. "Look," she said lifting up a blackbird. "There was a whole nest up here, and chicks."

"What the-" Spiderleg jumped back in surprise.

I was dumbstruck. "How, in the name of Starclan, did you get up there," I called.

She flicked her ears and looked down at the three of us. "Seriously, what is this Starclan you cats keep talking about."

"Just answer the question. How did you get on top of the den, Iceshadow?" Ivypool called. Her voice was steady in spite of the strange occurrence.

The white and tortoiseshell cat laughed a little. "I just climbed up a tree and jumped on. Don't tell me you guys live in a forest but never climb trees?"

"Some of us realize that we aren't squirrels," Spiderleg retorted with a flick of his tail.

Concern flooded me. "Be careful. You shouldn't strain yourself. It's only your first day out of camp."

She purred a little. "Well maybe you guys should try it. You can see everything from up here." Her forest green eyes became misty as she stared out across the forest. "It's so beautiful, it's no wonder you guys protect your territory so fiercely." Pride welled inside of me at her praise, but I pushed it down.

"Enough, Iceshadow," I said. "We've caught enough prey. It's time to go back to camp." I know I wanted my clanmates to learn how to climb tree's like Skyclan, but seeing her on top of that den made me nervous.

She stared defiantly down, meeting my eyes with her own. I held her gaze, daring her to look away. It felt like an eternity had passed before she looked away. "All right," she mumbled. With a swipe of a paw she knocked the bird and chicks off the edge. They landed on the ground with a soft thud. "I'll be right down."

She turned and started toward a nearby branch. Then she stopped. I felt the fur along my spine raise. "What's wrong?" I asked. She glanced around, her mouth open as she tasted the air. Her white ears thrown forward as she strained to hear. She ran toward the edge away from us and crouched. Her eyes flicking back and forth as she scanned the forest floor.

"What is it," Ivypool pushed. "Tell us."

Suddenly, her eye's grew wide. Quick as a Windclan cat, she bolted towards the edge closest to us. "Run! You guys have to get out of here quick. Run NOW!"